Nigerian drug mule left to die at Madrid Airport over Ebola fears

A Nigerian drug smuggler was left to his death at Madrid’s main airport after several bags of cocaine burst in his stomach. He spent 50 minutes without any medical attention as he was deemed an Ebola risk after he started shaking on the floor.

The man had arrived at Madrid-Barajas airport Terminal 1 on a
Turkish Airlines flight from Istanbul when the bags of cocaine
apparently burst in his stomach. He quickly succumbed to the
symptoms of a cocaine overdose.

However, he was left unattended, shaking on the floor for 50
minutes before he received any help, reported Spanish daily El
Mundo.

The incident happened on Saturday, and the man had just made it
through customs when he started trembling, according to the
newspaper. The airport reportedly sounded the alert, waiting for
a medical team with a specialization in infectious diseases.

Specialists apparently found the man “unconscious with a weak
pulse and suffering breathing difficulties”. He also
reportedly had blood on his right shoulder and around his mouth.

At 6:30 pm the same day he was deemed not to be an Ebola risk and
he was subsequently escorted to hospital “without
biocontainment measures and isolation,” according to a
doctor. However, he died 25 minutes later.

Although the man was a Nigerian traveler, his wife told Spain’s
The Local that he had not visited Nigeria in the previous four
years.

Emergency surgery is apparently the only way to save someone
suffering from the effects of a cocaine overdose which has
resulted from bags bursting in the stomach. The period of time
for which he was left unattended on account of contagion fears
would have proved vital to his being saved.

Ebola has killed some 4,877 people since the outbreak began in
Guinea in December 2013. Most of the cases thus far have been
confined to West Africa. However, a nurse treating missionaries
near Madrid was found to have contracted the disease at the
beginning of the month. She has since been declared free of the
disease. A Dallas nurse who contracted the disease has also been
declared free from it.